Ariana Grande’s album Petal
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Ariana Grande has been omnipresent the last few years. She's currently on tour. Her personal life is constantly dissected on the internet. She's coming off a long run promoting and starring in the two Wicked movies, one of which earned her an Oscar nomination. And her song, Hate That I Made You Love Me, has been everywhere this summer.
It was an instant hit and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
And she's just released her new album, Pedal. I'm Stephen Thompson. Joining me today on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour to talk about the new album is NPR music reporter Isabella Gomez-Sarmiento. Hey, Isabella. Hi, Stephen. Also with us, NPR Music Editor Sheldon Pierce. Welcome back, Sheldon. Great to be back. It's great to have you both. So, Petal is Ariana Grande's eighth album. It's the follow-up to her hit record Eternal Sunshine from two years ago. It follows a period of turmoil in the singer's life. Discussions of her relationships and her weight have made Grande an internet fixture in recent years.
How is Ariana Grande positioned in public life leading up to Petal?
Conversations about Grande's appearance reached a boiling point this weekend after she released the video for her single Petal. She also announced she's taking a step back from public life after her tour, a decision she said she made a while ago. Her new album touches on her personal life, and it has a mix of sounds ranging from feathery pop to spiky, synth-driven pop rock. Petal is out now. Isabella, I'm going to start with you. We're recording on Monday morning, so we've spent the weekend with the album. What do you think of Petal?
I am a little bit lukewarm on this album. I appreciate a lot of the production choices and that it's like a little bit darker, creepier at some points than what Ariana has done in the past. I appreciate a lot of things about that pivot. But to me, I think because I thought this album was going to be like angry, Ariana sort of confronting a lot of her relationship with fame. Her emotion feels a little bit detached and removed throughout in a way where I was kind of craving a bit more in your face emotion. both emotionally and I think in her vocal performance. So I'm just a little middle of the road here, I think. Okay. How about you, Sheldon?
I'm also wrestling with it. I think it's a lot more muted than I would have expected it to be. There is something kind of whimsical about it, but there is also kind of like... foreboding at the edges, which I guess you could say are both aspects of what Hollywood brings to you. But there's also just sort of like a soft focus feel to much of it. There's not a ton of vocal stacking on this album, which is kind of like Ari's bread and butter. It feels... small in its embrace of everything that is surrounding her. And considering the cyclone of emotions that come with listening to Ariana Grande, considering a rabid, if not overly intense fan base, but also just like a conversation that rings at a fever pitch whenever she's on screen.
I expected her to lean into that a bit more and I just didn't feel like she met that moment.
Yeah, and at the risk of echoing what you guys have just said, I'm kind of in the same boat. And part of what has thrown me off about this album release cycle is that this record was really pitched to the world. Words like feral, words like rage, words like experimental have come out. And you really get a sense like, oh my gosh, is this going to be some like fever ray, you know, art storm? Yeah. Because you think of, like, pop stars have certainly gone feral before. There's plenty of precedent for that. But then when you listen to the record and, you know, my initial response, the first couple times I listened to it, my reaction was sort of like, where is she?
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:34
2
How is Ariana Grande positioned in public life leading up to Petal?
1:34–5:58
3
What expectations were set for Petal after Eternal Sunshine and her recent projects?
5:58–10:29
4
Why do reviewers describe Petal as muted or emotionally removed?
10:29–21:32